Oil and natural-gas operators in the Gulf of Mexico have been taking precautions as Hurricane Michael approaches, evacuating a total of 10 production platforms, or about 1.5% of the 687 manned platforms in the region, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said Monday. Roughly 19% of Gulf oil production and about 11% of natural-gas production have been shut in, the BSEE said. Michael is expected to move across the eastern Gulf Tuesday and inland over Florida Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Oil prices pared some of their earlier declines, with November West Texas Intermediate oil CLX8, -0.34% down 22 cents, or 0.3%, at $74.12 a barrel. November natural gas NGX18, +4.23% traded up 13.2 cents, or 4.2%, at $3.271 per million British thermal units. It’s holding ground at the highest levels since January as U.S. supplies stand well below the five-year average.

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